Abstract

The modern era of cytotoxic chemotherapy started during World War II when a cargo ship carrying mustard gas exploded. Many who survived the blast died in the following weeks because their bone marrow had been destroyed by the gas. Mustine, the first cytotoxic chemotherapy drug produced after the war, was a variant of mustard gas, and was found to be dramatically effective in the treatment of Hodgkin's disease, which was previously untreatable.